Blogging for jewelers and metalsmiths made easy! (and for those interested in jewelry and gemstones)

Hello World!

by mikeedwards on October 24, 2010

Hello World!

I suppose that it’s time for me to crawl out from under my rock and stop lurking. I don’t have a website of my own so I thought I’d try this weblog out as a way to communicate and contribute back to the Orchid community that has become part of my life as an artist, teacher and jeweler over the last five years. I hope to share those ideas I’ve gleaned with you. I can only hope my ability to do this will improve over time as I‘m a bit of a Luddite with regards toward computers and other electronic media. The first thing I need to express in this blog is my appreciation for the existence of Orchid and the hard work that has gone into it. It provides a constant resource to which I refer students and other individuals interested in metal working.The library of articles, searchable forum posts, and listings ofindustry websites and other businesses have also been of immense help to me as a bench jeweler (I make the bulk of income wearing this hat). The forum has provided evidence presentable to my store accounts of the need to raise prices on occasion (they are always resistant to any price increases in spite of the fact that in fact it may result in additional income for them as well). I link to Orchid for additional assigned reading for the community college jewelry course I teach. Orchid allows my students to pursue additional knowledge in specific topics of interest. Orchid links us directly to a large knowledge base and more importantly directly to the practicing repositories of that knowledge, live active artists. It has connected us all to each other in ways I’ve not experience since college and for that I’m truly grateful. On that note I’m reminded of something I need do. That is simply to donate to Orchid. The way I like to do this is by purchasing a couple of raffle tickets and the tickets comes with a free book, ( tax deductable for my studio as an expense) and Hey I Might even Win! IN fact Any Way you look at it I WIN. If you want to win too you can go here and support Orchid http://www.userblogs.ganoksin.com/listing/ecom-splash/COREseo.html.